All fans know, whether they like it or not, Germany is a soccer force to be reckoned with. The team is tied with Italy for the second-most FIFA World Cup wins (four each), second only to Brazil’s five wins. So, what can other teams learn from the German soccer team? Here are the eight reasons why Germany is so good at soccer:
Eight reasons why Germany is good at soccer are:
- Germany has a massive soccer-playing population
- Coaches get professional training
- Germans are perfectionists
- Emphasis on youth soccer
- Most German players are German
- Emphasis on technique
- Teens play professionally
- Teamwork is ingrained
Table of Contents
- 1. Germany’s Massive Soccer-Playing Population
- 2. Professional Education For Coaches
- 3. Germans Are Driven For Perfection
- 4. A Strong Emphasis On Youth
- 5. Germany Has More Home-Grown Players
- 6. Germany Focuses On Technique Over Physique
- 7. Early Exposure To Professional Matches
- 8. Germans Are All About The Team
1. Germany’s Massive Soccer-Playing Population
Germany has a population of more than 80 million people and is the second-most populated country in all of Europe. This gives Germany the simple advantage of a massive base to choose its players from.
However, that’s not where it ends. Soccer forms such an integral part of German culture that it’s regarded as the people’s sport, similar to baseball in the United States and rugby in New Zealand. It is the sport that’s most emphasized in Germany.
The result is that approximately 6 million Germans (around 7.5% of Germany’s population) play soccer on a semi-professional level, to the extent that they are members of the DFB (the German Football Association).
Compare this to England’s nearly 60 million population, of which less than 1.5 million played soccer in 2021 – that’s only 2.5% of the population in a country that’s known for how popular soccer is.
We cannot underestimate the importance of having such a massive base of players you can select from to choose your national team.
2. Professional Education For Coaches
Germany has strict requirements for professional soccer coaches. The DFB developed a licensing system that coaches can qualify for at different levels. You must have a license for any professional level of soccer coaching, and a higher-class license is required to coach higher-level teams.
Licenses are awarded based on the completion of coach training programs. All coaches start at level C, which is the minimum required soccer coaching license, but already requires them to complete 80 basic modules, 40 professional coaching modules, and 20 exam modules. Dedicated coaches can go up to a level A license.
According to the DFB website, in 2014, there were already 3,000 coaches with a level B license, while 5,500 coaches held a class A one. By 2018, Germany had nearly 35,000 trained coaches; in the same year, England had only 3,000. Coach training started in 1947 at the University of Cologne, so it’s been an integral part of Germany’s soccer league for more than 70 years.
With such a solid commitment to proper soccer coaching (with most school programs in Germany even requiring a class C or B coaching license), it’s no wonder Germany’s soccer program is so successful.
This video from UEFA demonstrates the ideology of German soccer coaches and how popular they have become in Germany because of it.
3. Germans Are Driven For Perfection
The stereotype has been proven true many times: Germans are known perfectionists, even though there are exceptions. Even an intercultural handbook printed by ICUnet mentions that it can be hard to keep up with German perfectionism and bluntness, though the German people do not mean it negatively.
This drive for perfection is a crucial reason for Germany’s success in soccer. When every player, coach, and fan doesn’t settle for anything less than the absolute best, there can be no doubt that Germans will invest plenty of time and money to find the best coaching techniques and training methods known to man.
4. A Strong Emphasis On Youth
Many countries deal with youth sports training as something unimportant. School soccer coaching is the school’s problem, so they can get any teacher to handle it. This is not the case in Germany. Before a professional soccer team can get a license, they must prove they have an academy system or program.
This means the youth are encouraged and professionally trained to play proper soccer from primary school. All schools also use the 4-2-3-1 formation right from the start, so there’s no “scaled-down” soccer for younger age groups – they learn to play soccer like the professionals do when they play their very first match.
This leads to exceptionally talented players starting to play professionally at very young ages. A notable example is Youssoufa Moukoko, who played his first Champions League match for Borussia Dortmund the day after his 16th birthday.
5. Germany Has More Home-Grown Players
We know that soccer clubs love buying players from other clubs and countries. However, despite soccer’s popularity and emphasis in Germany, most German clubs don’t have the financial backing that English, Spanish, and Italian clubs have, so they can’t entice as many players to jump ship.
However, this turns out to play in Germany’s favor. Combined with the factors mentioned above, like an emphasis on youth development and special education for coaches, German clubs have no shortage of talent to choose from.
The German Bundesliga has approximately 45% German players, with 256 Germans participating in the 2022-2023 season, while the second-highest nationality is France, with 42 players. That’s compared to England, which, during the same season in the English Premier League, had only 36% of English players.
6. Germany Focuses On Technique Over Physique
Many German players are small compared to players in the same positions on opposing teams. That’s because Germany’s soccer players don’t focus as much on strength and physique as those of other countries.
According to Mr. Verstegen of EXOS in Phoenix, which implements German soccer training regimens in the United States, German teams place a lot of emphasis on physical fitness, and athletes run very long distances in each practice session. Still, most of their training time goes into technical and tactical elements of the game, perfecting every move.
Training is also very individualized. Coaches monitor each player individually and devise practice methods to correct mistakes immediately.
7. Early Exposure To Professional Matches
Unlike other leagues, the German Bundesliga isn’t limited to older players only. Deserving players can start playing Bundesliga matches in big stadiums while they’re still teenagers and qualify to play in U21 teams.
This fact helps to ensure that young players get used to playing against (and with) more experienced players, especially in front of large crowds, and it boosts their confidence and helps to stimulate growth.
8. Germans Are All About The Team
Germans have a strong tendency towards teamwork and chasing a common goal. While many other countries have to develop that team spirit through guided training, it’s already ingrained in most German players.
This helps to give Germany that added edge against its competitors; when every player functions like a perfectly-shaped cog in a well-oiled machine, very few teams can stand against them.
